KENT TRITLE’S 2019-20 SEASON:

“All About Communication”: Kent Tritle Stars in WIRED “Masterminds” Episode

The U.S. Premiere of a New Critical Edition of Brahms’s A German by Michael Musgrave, with the Oratorio Society of New York at

The World Premiere of A Nation of Others, a Paul Moravec/Mark Campbell Oratorio About Ellis Island, with Robert Paterson’s Walt Whitman’s America with the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall

The U.S. Premiere of Patrick Zimmerli’s Oratorio Instrument of Destiny by the Cathedral Choir of St. John the Divine

Bach’s St. John Passion with the Cathedral Choir of St. John the Divine, Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame with Musica Sacra

Kent Tritle takes a star turn in the latest episode of WIRED “Masterminds,” a new series of online video features recently launched as part of the WIRED OTT (“over the top”) channel, a platform for video series and features from the celebrated magazine that explores the intersection of technology and culture. “Masterminds” spotlights experts in various fields who let the viewer inside the finer points of their work; earlier episodes included “Former CIA Operative Explains How Spies Use Disguises” and “Amazing Illusions: Using Human Bodies to Create Shadow Dances.”

In "How Conductors Lead Musicians in Performance," Kent deconstructs what a conductor does and how, explaining such basics as beat patterns, right hand/left hand independence, and tempo. He also talks about how he views his role: communicating the conductor’s own interpretation of the music, and “how to do that in an open way that invites people in. I’ve found the most fulfilling moments to be when I am just empty, and facilitating – a conduit of energy that comes from the player, goes back to the player … and that’s all about communication.”

Download WIRED's Streaming App for free on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Android TV to watch Kent's episode and all of the others in the series. (Visit your streaming device’s app store, search for WIRED and click install and download to your TV for free.) The video will be posted later this summer on WIRED.com. Kent Tritle’s 2019-20 Season - Page 2 of 11

Overview The 2019-20 season of “New York’s choral magus” (The New Yorker) is highlighted by the U.S. premiere of a new critical edition of one of the masterpieces of choral music, Brahms’s A German Requiem at Carnegie Hall with the Oratorio Society of New York, the same organization that performed the U.S. premiere of the work in 1877 (March 2, 2020). The edition is by an international team of scholars led by Michael Musgrave and Michael Struck, and is being published by G. Henle Verlag in collaboration with Breitkopf & Härtel.

Kent Tritle also leads three new or recent major works by American composers: the world premiere of A Nation of Others, an oratorio by composer Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell about Ellis Island (following the 2018 premiere by OSNY of the Moravec/Campbell work Sanctuary Road about the Underground Railroad), with Robert Paterson’s Whitman’s America (2016), both with the Oratorio Society of New York (May 6, 2020, at Carnegie Hall); and the U.S. premiere of Patrick Zimmerli’s Instrument of Destiny (2017) to poetry by Alan Seeger with the Cathedral Choir of St. John the Divine (November 20, 2019).

Naxos Records in January 2020 will release a recording of the world premiere of Sanctuary Road, performed at Carnegie Hall on May 7, 2018, by the Oratorio Society of New York conducted by Kent Tritle, with soloists Laquita Mitchell, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Joshua Blue, Malcolm J. Merriweather, and Dashon Burton.

Kent’s mastery of the breadth of the choral repertoire is evinced throughout the season with performances of Bach’s St. John Passion with the Cathedral Choir of St. John the Divine (March 31, 2020); programs featuring Machaut’s watershed 14th-century mass Messe de Nostre Dame (October 21, 2019) and music of Bach, Brahms, and Bruckner (March 18, 2020, both at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine) with Musica Sacra; and a program with the Oratorio Society of New York at St. John the Divine featuring excerpts from Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil and Duruflé’s Requiem (November 5, 2019). Also, the Cathedral Choir of St. John the Divine and world music ensemble Rose of the Compass continue their collaboration with a program marking the 50th anniversary of Earth Day (February 10, 2020).

The fire that broke out the in the basement crypt of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in April has put the cathedral’s Great Organ temporarily out of commission, but the annual series of organ recitals will take place as scheduled using a digitally sampled Aeolian-Skinner organ from the Walker Technical Company, and Kent will perform his first organ recital on the series in two years, a program of Bach, Vierne, and Bruhns (January 28, 2020).

Kent Tritle is Director of Cathedral Music and Organist at New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the largest cathedral in the world; Music Director of the Oratorio Society of New York, the acclaimed 200-voice volunteer chorus; and Music Director of Musica Sacra, New York’s longest continuously performing professional chorus. He is Director of Choral Activities at the Manhattan School of Music and a member of the graduate faculty of The . Also an organ virtuoso, Kent is the organist of the and the American Symphony Orchestra.

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Great Music in a Great Space with the Cathedral Choir of St. John the Divine The Great Music in a Great Space series features the acclaimed Cathedral Choir, both showcased and featured: • Wednesday, November 20, 2019: Cathedral Choir and Orchestra perform the U.S. premiere of Patrick Zimmerli’s 2017 oratorio Instrument of Destiny for male chorus, tenor soloist, jazz piano, and jazz percussion, which celebrates the life of early 20th-century American poet Alan Seeger. The soloists are Alex Richardson, tenor; Thomas Enhco, piano; and John Hollenbeck, percussion.

• Saturday, December 14, 2019: Fantasias and Carols: A Cathedral Christmas features music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Giovanni Gabrieli, and George Frideric Handel performed by combined Cathedral Choirs and Orchestra conducted by Kent Tritle and Bryan Zaros.

• Tuesday, December 31, 2019: New Year’s Eve Concert for Peace features longtime guest artists of the event Judy Collins, Jason Robert Brown, Paul Winter, and host Harry Smith, and organist David Briggs, as well as soprano Jamet Pittman.

• Monday, February 10, 2020: This Fragile Earth, a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, is the Cathedral Choir’s ninth collaboration with Nina Stern’s early/world music ensemble Rose of the Compass.

• Tuesday, March 31, 2020: Bach’s St. John Passion is performed by the Cathedral Choir and Orchestra with soloists Andrew Fuchs as the Evangelist, Joseph Beutel as Jesus, and Amy Justman, soprano; Kirsten Sollek, contralto; Lawrence Jones, tenor; and Peter Stewart, baritone.

Oratorio Society of New York The 147th season of the Oratorio Society of New York, the city’s standard for grand choral performance, includes the three concerts of the OSNY’s annual Carnegie Hall series, and one at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. • Tuesday, November 5, 2019, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine: This program of excerpts from Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil, an a cappella choral work, and Duruflé’s Requiem utilizes the resonance of the cathedral space. The soloists in the Duruflé work are Kirsten Sollek, contralto, and David Pike, baritone, with David Briggs, organ, and Arthur Fiacco, cello; John Riesen, tenor, solos in the Rachmaninoff.

• Thursday, December 19, 2019, at Carnegie Hall: The OSNY’s 146th annual performance of Handel’s Messiah, a beloved New York tradition, this year features soloists Leslie Fagan, soprano; Heather Petrie, contralto; Brian Giebler, tenor; and Adam Lau, bass.

• Monday, March 2, 2020, at Carnegie Hall: The U.S. premiere of a new critical edition of one of the masterpieces of choral music, Brahms’s A German Requiem, with soloists Susanna Phillips, soprano, and Takaoki Onishi, baritone. The OSNY performed the U.S. premiere of the work in 1877. This new critical edition is by an international team of scholars led by Michael Musgrave and Michael Struck. Michael Musgrave is the author of, among other books, The Music of Brahms and Brahms: A German Requiem. The new edition is being published by G. Henle Verlag in collaboration with Breitkopf & Härtel.

• Wednesday, May 6, 2020, at Carnegie Hall: The world premiere of A Nation of Others, a new oratorio by composer Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell about Ellis Island headlines this Kent Tritle’s 2019-20 Season - Page 4 of 11

program that also features Robert Paterson’s 2016 work for soprano and baritone soloists, chorus, and orchestra, Whitman’s America, settings of poems from Leaves of Grass. The Moravec/Campbell work is an OSNY commission, as was the pair’s oratorio Sanctuary Road, which the OSNY premiered to acclaim in 2018. The program’s soloists are Jennifer Zetlan, soprano; Maeve Hogland, soprano; Raehann Bryce-Davis, mezzo-soprano; Isaiah Bell, tenor; Steven Eddy, baritone; and Joseph Beutel, bass. Steven Eddy won first prize in the OSNY’s 2019 Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo Competition; Isaiah Bell and Joseph Beutel won prizes in 2017.

Sanctuary Road, by Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell, a Naxos Records Release Naxos Records in January 2020 will release a recording of the world premiere of the Paul Moravec/Mark Campbell oratorio Sanctuary Road, performed at Carnegie Hall on May 7, 2018, by the Oratorio Society of New York conducted by Kent Tritle, with soloists Laquita Mitchell, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Joshua Blue, Malcolm J. Merriweather, and Dashon Burton. An OSNY commission, Sanctuary Road is based upon the writings of William Still, a conductor for the Underground Railroad. Praising the premiere, Opera News called the work “extraordinary … an astonishing illumination of multiple slaves and their escape experiences,” and said, “Kent Tritle showed magnificent command of [this] challenging new work and his massive musical forces.”

Musica Sacra The 2019-20 season of the acclaimed professional chorus, New York’s longest continually-performing such ensemble, features three concerts and collaborations with two of New York’s major institutions. • Wednesday & Thursday, September 11 & 12, 2019 at David Geffen Hall: Musica Sacra joins the New York Philharmonic for its performance of John Williams’s score to Close Encounters of the Third Kind accompanying the screening of the film, one of the orchestra’s The Art of the Score events.

• Monday, October 21, 2019, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine: A medieval program of Guillaume de Machaut’s landmark mass, Messe de Nostre Dame, motets of Josquin des Prez, and Gregorian chant

• Monday, December 23, 2019, at Carnegie Hall: Musica Sacra’s acclaimed rendition of Handel’s Messiah, in which the orchestra uses period bows, is a New York holiday tradition. The soloists are Amy Justman, soprano; Kirsten Sollek, contralto; Joshua Blue, tenor; and Adam Lau, bass.

• Wednesday, March 18, 2020, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine: A program of J. S. Bach’s Komm, Jesu, Komm, BWV 229; Brahms’s Schaffe in mir, Gott; Bruckner’s Os Justi; and Rheinberger’s Mass in E-Flat major, Op. 109

• May 2020: Musica Sacra is featured in performances of Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Ballet’s performances of the Balanchine ballet.

Manhattan School of Music As Director of Choral Activities at the Manhattan School of Music, Kent supervises the conservatory’s choral ensembles – Chamber Choir, Women’s Chorus, and Symphonic Chorus – along with Dr. Ronnie Oliver, Associate Director of Choral Activities. • Tuesday, November 12, 2019: Kent and two of his graduate students lead the MSM Chamber Choir in “Look at the Stars,” a program of mixed repertoire ranging from medieval chant, spirituals and Sufi song to music by Christina Whitten, Kevin Oldham, and Lee Hoiby, in The Gordon K. and Harriet Greenfield Hall. Kent Tritle’s 2019-20 Season - Page 5 of 11

• Tuesday, February 25, 2020: Kent leads the MSM Symphonic Chorus and Chamber Choir in a program of Schubert’s Mass in E-flat Major and Bach’s Magnificat, in the school’s newly-renovated Neidorff-Karpati Hall.

Guest Conducting Collegium Cincinnati Kent is a guest conductor with Collegium Cincinnati, leading the ensemble in two performances of Handel’s Messiah with a choir of 16 singers and a small chamber orchestra (December 7 & 8, 2019, at Christ Church Cathedral, Cincinnati).

Organ Performances Tuesday, January 28, 2020: After a hiatus last season, Kent performs an organ recital at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, on an electronic organ while the Great Organ is undergoing repairs. He will perform Nicolaus Bruhns’s Praeludium in E Minor; J. S. Bach’s Trio Sonata in D minor, BWV 527, and Pièce d’orgue, BWV 572; and Louis Vierne’s Symphonie No. 3, Op. 28. He will perform on a digitally sampled Aeolian-Skinner organ from the Walker Technical Company (recently used at Carnegie Hall for a performance of the Saint-Saëns “Organ” Symphony).

Amherst Early Music Festival Choral Workshop This summer, Kent leads his fifth week-long choral workshop at the Amherst Early Music Festival, the largest early music festival in the U.S., this year focusing on Monteverdi’s Magnificat for six voices and motets Adoramus te and Cantate Domino, and Carissimi’s Jephte. The workshop concludes with a performance. (July 14-20, 2019, at Connecticut College, New , CT)

A full schedule of the season’s events with program details follows below.

Kent Tritle is one of America’s leading choral conductors. Called “the brightest star in New York's choral music world” by The New York Times, he is Director of Cathedral Music and Organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City; Music Director of the Oratorio Society of New York, the acclaimed 200-voice avocational chorus; and Music Director of Musica Sacra, the longest continuously performing professional chorus in New York City. In addition, Kent is Director of Choral Activities and a member of the organ faculty at the Manhattan School of Music and is a member of the graduate faculty of The Juilliard School, serving its Vocal Arts Department. An acclaimed organ virtuoso, he is also the organist of the New York Philharmonic and the American Symphony Orchestra.

Kent Tritle’s discography of more than 20 recordings on the Telarc, AMDG, Epiphany, Gothic, VAI and MSR Classics labels includes the 2016 performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 8, David Briggs's organ- choral version, which received a rave review in The American Organist, and Eternal Reflections: Choral Music of Robert Paterson with Musica Sacra, about which Gramophone said, “As shaped by Music Director Kent Tritle, the myriad hues, lyricism and nobility in Paterson's music emerge in all their splendour.” Other releases, including his 2013 recording of Juraj Filas’ Requiem, Oratio Spei dedicated to the victims of 9/11, with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and the Kühn Choir; Messages to Myself, an acclaimed recording with Musica Sacra of five new works; and releases including with the Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola, Cool of the Day – an a cappella program of music ranging from Gregorian chant, Palestrina, and spirituals to Strauss’s Deutsche Motette – and Ginastera’s The Lamentations of Jeremiah with Schnittke’s Concerto for Choir, have been praised by Gramophone, American Record Guide, and The Choral Journal.

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Kent Tritle founded the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space concert series at New York’s Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, and led it to great acclaim from 1989 to 2011. From 1996 to 2004, he was Music Director of New York’s The . Kent hosted “The Choral Mix with Kent Tritle” on New York’s WQXR, a weekly program devoted to the vibrant world of choral music, from 2010 to 2014. Among his recent honors are the 2017 Distinguished Achievement Award from Career Bridges and the 2016 President’s Medal for Distinguished Service from the Manhattan School of Music. Kent is on the advisory boards of the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective (C4) and the Clarion Music Society, and was the 2016 honoree at Clarion’s annual gala. www.kenttritle.com Kent Tritle on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kenttritle Kent Tritle on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kenttritle Join Kent Tritle’s e-newsletter list.

KENT TRITLE’S 2019-20 SEASON

July 14-20, 2019 Connecticut College, New London, CT AMHERST EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL CHORAL WORKSHOP

The Choral Workshop at the Amherst Music Festival, led by Kent Tritle, is designed to give the serious amateur choral singer an opportunity to learn and perform masterworks. The 2019 workshop will focus on Monteverdi’s Magnificat for six voices and motets Adoramus te and Cantate Domino, and Carissimi’s Jephte. The performance takes place at Harkness Chapel on Saturday, July 20, at 11:15 am.

Wednesday & Thursday, September 11 & 12, 2019, at 7:30 pm David Geffen Hall, , New York, NY NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC Richard Kaufman, conductor Musica Sacra Kent Tritle, music director

The Art of the Score JOHN WILLIAMS Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Monday, October 21, 2019, at 7:30 pm Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, NY MUSICA SACRA Kent Tritle, conductor

GUILLAUME DE MACHAUT Messe de Nostre Dame JOSQUIN DES PRES Motets Gregorian Chant

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Tuesday, November 5, 2019, at 7:30 pm Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, NY ORATORIO SOCIETY OF NEW YORK Kent Tritle, conductor Kirsten Sollek, contralto John Riesen, tenor David Pike, baritone Arthur Fiacco, Jr., cello David Briggs, organ

SERGEI RACHMANINOFF All-Night Vigil (excerpts) MAURICE DURUFLÉ Requiem

Tuesday, November 12, 2019, at 7:30 pm Gordon K. and Harriet Greenfield Hall, Manhattan School of Music, New York, NY MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC CHAMBER CHOIR Kent Tritle, conductor Graduate student conductors to be announced

“Look at the Stars” Cunctipotens genitor Deus (10th century, Milan) PEROTIN Sederunt “Adinu” (Sufi song) NURIT HIRSCH “Oseh Shalom” CHRISTINA WHITTEN Choral de Bêtes LEE HOIBY “Last Letter Home” KEVIN OLDHAM Boulding Chorale - “My Lord, thou art in every breath I take” “Elijah Rock” (Traditional spiritual, arr. Moses Hogan)

Wednesday, November 20, 2019, at 7:30 pm Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, NY CATHEDRAL CHOIR OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE Kent Tritle, conductor Alex Richardson, tenor Thomas Enhco, piano David Rozenblatt, percussion

PATRICK ZIMMERLI Instrument of Destiny (U.S. Premiere)

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Saturday, December 7, 2019, at 7:00 pm Sunday, December 8, 2019, at 4:00 pm Christ Church Cathedral, Cincinnati, OH COLLEGIUM CINCINNATI Kent Tritle, conductor

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL Messiah

Saturday, December 14, 2019, at 7:00 pm Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, NY FANTASIAS AND CAROLS: A CATHEDRAL CHRISTMAS Kent Tritle, conductor Bryan Zaros, conductor Combined Cathedral Choirs, Orchestra, and Soloists

Works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Giovanni Gabrieli, George Frideric Handel

Thursday, December 19, 2019, at 8:00 pm Carnegie Hall, New York, NY ORATORIO SOCIETY OF NEW YORK Kent Tritle, conductor Leslie Fagan, soprano Heather Petrie, contralto Brian Giebler, tenor Adam Lau, bass

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL Messiah

Monday, December 23, 2019, 7:30 PM Carnegie Hall, New York, NY MUSICA SACRA Kent Tritle, conductor Amy Justman, soprano Kirsten Sollek, contralto Joshua Blue, tenor Adam Lau, bass

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL Messiah

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Tuesday, December 31, 2019, at 7:00 pm Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, NY NEW YEAR’S EVE CONCERT FOR PEACE Kent Tritle, conductor Jamet Pittman, soprano

With special guests Judy Collins, Paul Winter, David Briggs, Jason Robert Brown, and host Harry Smith, with the Cathedral Choir and Orchestra

January 18 & 19, 2020 Church of the Redeemer Episcopal, Sarasota, FL KENT TRITLE

Residency to include choral workshop and organ recital

Tuesday, January 28, 2020, at 7:30 pm Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, NY KENT TRITLE, organ

NICOLAUS BRUHNS Praeludium in E Minor J. S. BACH Trio Sonata in D minor, BWV 527 J. S. BACH Pièce d’orgue, BWV 572 LOUIS VIERNE Symphonie No. 3, Opus 28

Monday, February 10, 2020, at 7:30 pm Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, NY ROSE OF THE COMPASS CATHEDRAL CHOIR OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE Kent Tritle, conductor

This Fragile Earth – A Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day

Tuesday, February 25, 2020 Neidorff-Karpati Hall, Manhattan School of Music, New York, NY MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC SYMPHONIC CHORUS & CHAMBER CHOIR Kent Tritle, conductor

FRANZ SCHUBERT Mass in E-flat Major J. S. BACH Magnificat

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Monday, March 2, 2020, at 8:00 pm Carnegie Hall, New York, NY ORATORIO SOCIETY OF NEW YORK Kent Tritle, conductor Susannah Phillips, soprano Takaoki Onishi, baritone

JOHANNES BRAHMS A German Requiem (U.S. premiere of a new critical edition)

Wednesday, March 18, 2019, 7:30 PM Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, NY MUSICA SACRA Kent Tritle, conductor

J. S. BACH Komm, Jesu, Komm, BWV 229 JOHANNES BRAHMS Schaffe in mir, Gott ANTON BRUCKNER Os Justi JOSEF GABRIEL RHEINBERGER Mass in E-Flat major, Op. 109

Tuesday, March 31, 2020, at 7:30 pm Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, NY CATHEDRAL CHOIR AND ORCHESTRA OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE Kent Tritle, conductor Andrew Fuchs as the Evangelist Joseph Beutel as Jesu Amy Justman, soprano Kirsten Sollek, contralto Lawrence Jones, tenor Peter Stewart, baritone

J. S. BACH St. John Passion

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Wednesday, May 6, 2020, at 8:00 pm Carnegie Hall, New York, NY ORATORIO SOCIETY OF NEW YORK Kent Tritle, conductor Jennifer Zetlan, soprano Maeve Hogland, soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis, mezzo-soprano Isaiah Bell, tenor Steven Eddy, baritone Joseph Beutel, bass

PAUL MORAVEC/MARK CAMPBELL A Nation of Others, an oratorio about Ellis Island (World premiere of an OSNY commission) ROBERT PATERSON Whitman’s America

May 26-31, 2020 David Koch Theater, Lincoln Center, New York, NY NEW YORK CITY BALLET

Musica Sacra, Kent Tritle, music director, is featured in performances of Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Balanchine ballet.

Updated August 27, 2019